Movie Review: Green Lantern

I am usually the very first person to discount movie Critics (capitalized for those who specifically do it professionally) when it comes to genre flicks, and most especially “popcorn” flicks that are simply meant to entertain. I actually really enjoy movies that simply entertain. CLASH OF THE TITANS, PUSH, UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS, DOOMSDAY, were all pretty much pissed on across the board by the Critics, but if you looked at audience reactions, those were more varied and there seemed to be a number of people, like me, who actually enjoyed those movies for what they were: fun, genre, popcorn entertainment. I’ve always been of the mind that the Critics won’t like such a flick unless there is something IN it that their Critical eye can glom onto (like gorgeous cinematography, or in the case of IRON MAN, Downey Jr.’s amazing performance) and tout. I think they’ve forgotten what it was to just go to a movie and enjoy it for enjoyment’s sake.

That said when it comes to Martin Campbell’s live action DC Comics film GREEN LANTERN starring Ryan Reynolds...they were SPOT on the bean. For lack of a better phrase it is fairly awful.

As far as bad comic book-to-screen adaptations go, the bottom of the barrel is usually occupied by the first FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDERMAN 3 and DAREDEVIL. So where does GL fall? Somewhere in between those...but really NOTHING is worse than DAREDEVIL.

I’m also kind of baffled as to how this movie is so bad. I mean Martin Campbell directed CASINO ROYALE and almost single handedly revived the James Bond series!...but then I remember that he also did VERTICAL LIMIT and THE LEGEND Of ZORRO and things settle into place in my head.

Where does GL fall apart? Well, it’s not in the effects department, as the film LOOKS just fine, especially the scenes on Oa everything looks lavish. Even GL’s suit is nicely presented and doesn’t look too CGI that I couldn’t get past it which I had been worried about. That all worked fine. No, I think because this film went through more than one script re-write is probably problem one. There is some seriously clunky dialogue and some strange plot progression moments where I wondered if we were missing a reel. As far as acting goes I have to only give any credit to Reynolds who does his very best to pull off Hal Jordan (and Mark Strong, see below), but even his best (I’m afraid) is just not good enough and there were whole sections where he descends into goofy one-liners. Hal is a sarcastic, cocky guy...not a goofy, cocky guy. I give Reynolds credit for trying, but in the end I think he was the wrong choice to play Hal. While we are at it, I don’t think every huge animated character in movies needs to be portrayed or voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan...there I said it. I would preferred Kilowog to have been gruffer (but that’s a personal nitpick). Geoffrey Rush, on the other hand, as Tomar Re was genius, he works perfectly. However, Sarsgard, Robbins, Basset and Lively get reduced to carboard cutouts gibbering pointless dialogue and being too over the top for their own good. Sarsgard especially doesn’t come across as villainous as Hector Hammond but actually seems to be doing his level best clowning bad guy sidekick impression. When people like Jeff Bridges, Wilem Dafoe, Heath Ledger and Tom Hiddelston have come before you playing comic book villains you really need to come with your “A” game, and the best Sarsgard can seem to manage is his “F” game. Robbins is almost laughable as Hammond’s Senator Father as he seems to just be an afformetnioned cardboard cutout of the asshole father, right down to the scene where it looks as if he’s going to macho-ly punch Hammond Jr. in the gut and shout “Hey Tiger!”, and we KNOW that Robbins is capable of much subtler performances and much better acting. Even the bit character of Kalmaku played here by Taika Watiti (Hal’s mechanic in the comics) is reduced to comedy sounding board for Reynold’s goofier moments as Jordan.  The only real standout is the always amazing Mark Strong as future baddie Sinestro, who chews scenery in every scene he’s in.

Okay, you say, so the acting’s bad, is that all? I’m afraid that’s not all. As I said above the script is really messy and tries to jam too much into the hour and forty minute running time (who told them to make such a densely back grounded story into a movie that is 1 hr 40?!). The funny thing about that is that this is basically Geoff John’s  Green Lantern: Origin story which isn’t that deep. It basically establishes Hal into the role and has him fight an enemy. It SHOULD have been easy as hell to do, but instead someone decided to complicate things. I think Chris’ comment to me after the film spells it out best. Having Parallax show up VIA Hector Hammond was a bad bad idea. As he noted, what could have happened is Hal could have fought Hector in the downtown streets with Hal making constructs and Hammond throwing shit at him with his mind and that could have made a decent climax battle. But someone decided that Parallax needed to show up now. So we get the too many villains angle and Parallax never has time to be painted as anything too much. Sure it can destroy people on a whim and seems to delight in taking out a few city blocks, but was I ever really frightened by this creature that supposedly feeds on fear? Not at all. In as much as I think Sarsgard’s portrayal of Hammond was bad, I think Parallax was worse. He may as well have been called “Big Nameless Cloud Macguffin that destroys”. 

Lastly, what do you go to see a GL movie for? You got to see Hal make ring contructs right? Well he does that for all of 12 minutes over the course of the whole 1hr 40 minutes...and I’m being generous. Mostly he does it on Oa, and those scenes are great but there isn't enough. Likewise we never get enough of Oa as a setting... the Guardians who are totally interesting in the comics, are here completely underused as the dudes who actually created the GL Corps. Then there are Sinestro, Kilowog and Tomar Re who don’t get oodles of screen time either. I don’t really mind that as this is Hal’s show, but if you are going to introduce us to a whole world of Space Police, please at least spend more time there. It seems like Hal gets an hour or two of training (that in the film lasts as a 4 minute montage) and then off he goes to save earth. Even in John’s origin book he spends a bunch more time there before returning to earth, going to the central battery to learn things about the Corp. Ect. I needed more of that in a GL movie. 

GL is a wasted opportunity to make a third big DC character into a viable franchise. With Nolan's Batman films doing so well, and Zack Snyder re-launching Superman next year in MAN OF STEEL, we COULD have had a decent, serious GL movie and instead we get something that isn’t even as good as the animated origin story GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT that came out last year. GL is a squandered opportunity and a practically lifeless, definitely soulless effects-ridden movie that gave me memories of the second Mummy movie. Seriously. I feel awful saying that. I went in with lowered expectations, and I don’t think I could lower them enough to enjoy the dog’s breakfast mess that is GREEN LANTERN.

Comic book reviews for the week of February 16th in six sentences (or less)

Brightest Day #20
Writer: Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

The Aquawar continues. Aquaman, Mera, Aquagirl and Aquaboy (Aqua, Aqua, Aqua!) fight off Black Manta and the rebellious soldiers from the kingdom of Xebel, who are intent on conquering the surface world. The Aqua Squad manages to reimprison the Xebelian soldiers back inside the Bermuda triangle before White Lantern Deadman shows up to kill Aquaman.

Only in comic books does that last sentence make sense.

I’m still not 100% sure where Johns and co are going with this thing. Clearly the White Lantern energy functions as a bit of a deus ex machina allowing the writers to kill, torture and maim characters with little or no lasting repercussions. A little wave of the magic wishing ring and the characters can be resurrected in any incarnation that DC wants to use. Its an interesting premise but it also cheapens the story since all of the major character changes (breaking the
Hawk curse, Aquaman losing his hand...again) can arbitrarily be undone at any time.

Still enjoying the series and I think its one of the stronger titles DC is putting out these days. Its a shame that it’s wrapping up so soon.

Green Lantern
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Doug Mahnke

Green Lantern and the original renegade Guardian, Krona, face off. Even with the help of the rest of the Rainbow Corps the Lanterns are easily overpowered and Krona makes his escape. Hal wakes up surrounded by the Justice League who try to convince him to accept their help in catching Krona. Only Hal ditches the Leaguers and decides to go after Krona with the rest of Team Lite Brite instead.

Looks like this is the last issue before the next John-sian Green Lantern event, War of the Green Lanterns. It seems like Johns is starting to tread on KNIGHTSFALL territory here. With each escalating conflict Hal is slowly being pushed to the limits of his endurance, mentally and physically. And of course we all know what happened the LAST time Hal went down this path.

All together now, “Parallaxxxxxxx”.

Also, I’d like to give an obligatory shout out to Doug Mahnke. The man knows how to draw. His wonderfully detailed and expressive work is always a treat to look at. Colourist Randy Mayor also deserves credit. With Green Lantern being a comic based primarily on bright and shiny colour based powers a skilled colourist is key to bringing the whole look of the book together. And with this issue Mayor does a great job of seamlessly blending the entire gamut of the rainbow during the larger fight scenes.

Green Lantern Corps #57
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciller: Tyler Kirkham

The conclusion to the Weaponer storyline. The Sinestro Corps and the Qwardian Thunderers throw down in the anti-matter universe. Amongst the fighting a small band of Green Lanterns work to rescue the Lantern Soranik Natu from the hands of the vengeful Weaponer. Unfortunately, Natu just happens to be Sinestro’s daughter and he wants her back.

There were some good things in this issue. The art was solid, the story well written and there was an interesting character turn with the main villain that I didn’t see coming. One strange thing, all the Qwardian Thunderers are written like the chorus in an ancient Greek tragedy. It was a bit off. I kept expecting to see someone get ritually disembowelled or sleep with his mother (oh Oedipus Rex).

This also marks my last issue of GL:Corps. The series has fallen off a bit since Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason helmed the title. Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham are perfectly serviceable, but regrettably neither one of them has been able to hold my flagging interest in this series. I only have so many Green Lantern dollars to throw and this is the title that was sacrificed.

Wonder Woman #607
Writer: Phil Hester
Penciller: Don Kramer

Wonder Woman is harried by the forces of Morrigan, looking to recruit her as a third aspect of the God of War. The Morrigan sends mythological Grecian beings and brainwashed Amazons after Diana in order to wear down her defences in the hopes of corrupting her.

I have to say, I started reading this series only to sneak a peek at Wonder Woman’s new costume and narrative direction. Eight issues later I find myself enjoying this title a lot more than I thought I would. Shallow or not I was always a little put off by Wonder Woman’s crime fighting attire. Her propensity to slug it out in a star spangled bathing suit always struck me as being at odds with her character as a warrior and ambassador to man’s world. And Phil Hester as a writer? I’m diggin it. I’ve always counted the man among some of my favourite artists so its nice to see he’s got some writing chops as well.

Sadly, its fairly obvious that this new direction won’t last very long. Her Amazonian support crew is already being permanently dispatched with clockwork regularity and there’s a lot of narrative foreshadowing (or flashbacks, depending on how you look at it) to her previous incarnation. It seems a shame that DC is unwilling to try playing with this new status quo a little longer. If we can muck around with the fundamentals of Batman, a character who’s popularity seems to buoy the entire company, then why can’t we take a risk and see what can be done with this new look Wonder Woman?

Comic book reviews for the week of December 22nd in six sentences (or less)

Guts and gore and…unpleasant sexual situations in this week’s Six Sentences (or less). Just the kind of thing you really want to delve into right before the holidays. Ho ho ho and all that. So upsize your egg nog as we present you with the holiday edition of Toronto’s favourite comic book mini-reviews.

Batman Incorporated #2
Bruce Wayne throws down with the Japanese super-villian, Lord Death Man, on his first stop around the world recruiting potential new Batmen to fight crime under the Batman Inc. brand. Surprisingly its a completely straightforward issue, full of almost none of the ticks and tricks that Grant Morrison loves to employ. Instead Morrison appears to be riffing on the essential elements on some of the core Batman mythos, only eerily devoid of the dark bleakness that’s inhabited the character for years. We have glimpses into Bruce the master-detective, the Kyle\Wayne forbidden love angle and some of the good ol’ hand on hand Batman ultra-violence. From any other author I’d say this is a solid Batman story by the numbers, from Grant Morrison I need more.

DC Universe: Legacies #8
DC’s illustrated history of the world continues. This issue deals with one of the darkest chapters of comic publishing, we call it the mid 90s. That’s when DC tried to reboot, revamp and otherwise rethink the basic tenants behind many of their core characters. Superman got a new haircut, Batman got his back broken, Green Lantern became a bad guy and a lot of other characters got otherwise replaced or shuffled off into the sidelines. The grand experiment lasted a couple years before, almost without exception, every single one was returned to their roots and the embarrassing saga was swept under the rug to be jeered at mockingly by sarcastic fanboys for years to come. Len Wein does a good job synthesizing the events of the time period into a single issue, but the real treat is a back up story drawn by Frank Quitely about DC’s Kirby era creations. Quitely is my all time favourite penciller and he’s able to make even a mediocre story imminently readable. Throw Kirby characters at him and I start to suffer Pavlovian responses by drooling uncontrollably on the page.

Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special #1
Of all the new characters introduced by Geoff Johns as part of the zombie epic BLACKEST NIGHT I think Larfleeze is easily the most popular. Of course it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make that deduction, considering that Larfleeze is the only character in the entire DCU to get his own Christmas book. Which is pretty good for a guy who’s only claim to fame is being a supporting character in the GREEN LANTERN expanded universe. When Larfleeze first burst on the scene he was portrayed as an aloof alien with a dark, malicious streak. Since then, he’s undergone a slight personality shift and now he comes across as a mix between the Grinch and a spoiled child. Now Larfleeze is played more for comic relief rather than any kind of serious threat.

Anyway, in this issue Larfleeze goes on a rampage in search of Santa Claus after he determines the big guy has neglected to give him any of the Christmas presents he asked for. Which means it’s up to Green Lantern to help show Larfleeze the true meaning of Christmas.

I think Larfleeze is a fun character and it’s always been amusing to see his more anarchistic and irreverent side. But unfortunately, from a plot point of view, this is a pretty thin issue when you get right down to it. Writer Geoff Johns is clearly playing this whole thing just for laughs and by doing so he’s in danger of cementing Larfleeze as a one note character – more so than he already is. There’s a small pay off at the end, setting up a future story arc in GREEN LANTERN I’m sure, but its material that’s already been hinted at in other places. In the end, another good but not a great issue.

Invincible #76
While Invincible might not deal with material as explicit as Neonomicon it is, in its own way, just as stomach turning. Penciller Ryan Ottley seems to have developed a knack for breaking, mutilating and otherwise disfiguring the human body. I’ve never seen near as many graphic disembowelments as I have before I started reading this comic. Eye gouging, decapitation and exposed internal organs are the new norm in these pages. The reason why the violence is so notable is that, at times, Invincible has the air of an all ages family style comic book. Blame the bright colours and teenage protagonists I guess.

Neonomicon #3
I think its important to step outside of your comfort zone once in awhile. If you don’t expose yourself to new stories and new ideas you end up slowly constructing a very safe little box for you to inhabit, where nothing ever challenges you. I think comic book readers often lock themselves inside those little boxes. Too many people get hooked on the capes and tights genre and they never look back. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’ve found something that works for you, then by all means enjoy it. You’re under no obligation to try something else.
But having said all that, Neonomicon pushes my tolerance levels for ‘something different’ right into the red zone. If you can get past the surface story about the extended rape scene and digest some of the unsettling implications of what appears to be the lead character’s acceptance of those events then you might be able to enjoy the deeper story that writer Alan Moore is trying to tell. But, to be honest, I’m getting hung up on the subject matter and I can’t look very far beyond that.

Superior #3
Otherwise known as the Superman who swears. Writer Mark Millar continues to put his Superman-analogue through his origin story paces. There’s not much to the issue in the way of story. We’re introduced to a super-sexed Lois stand in and treated to a few standard rescue scenes. But Leinil Yu makes the whole thing look so good that its easy to forget you’re watching something you’ve seen a hundred times before.

Comic book reviews for the week of December 15th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the Week

Green Lantern #60

In contrast to last issue’s talky-talky vibe writer Geoff Johns has come back with a heavy fighty-fighty one. The mysterious bandaged figure, who’s been kidnapping the various colour spectrum entities, turns out to be Krona. And, as near as I can remember, the last time we saw Krona was in the pages of TRINITY where he was forced back into the Cosmic Egg from JLA\Avengers. There’s no explanation offered for his return, or why he‘s interested in the spectrum entities. So expect a Johns-style continuity patch in the next issue or so.

GREEN LANTERN often straddles the line between ludicrous and awesomeness, but the more I read it the more I’m convinced I’m privy to an institutionally sanctioned fan-fic adventure. It always seems like Johns is trying to create fantasy versions of established characters. “What if Batman was in the Sinestro Corp?” or “What if the Flash was taken over by Parallax?” If I’m being pessimistic I’d say its a cheap way to create new action figures based on a couple panels of story.

With Johns and artist Doug Mahnke continuing to rock out this title every month, GREEN LANTERN is easily one of the most consistent titles put out by DC. With a GL movie hitting the screens in 2011, anyone with a casual interest in the franchise should be looking to pick up this title to get a feel for the character and his extended universe.

Batman and Robin #18

Featuring the origins of Batman’s (and Bruce Wayne’s) newest enemy, The Absence. This issue is mostly explanatory back story. The Absence is born when rich socialite Una Nemo is shot in the head and dumped into the Gotham River. Through a combination of river pollution (really, are we still using pollution as a viable method of creating villains?) and Dandy Walker Syndrome, which are fluid filled spaces in the human brain, Nemo survives her experience to become The Absence. Scarred and traumatized as a result of her near death experience Nemo develops an obsession with capturing the attention of Bruce Wayne with whom she had a brief romantic fling before she was shot.

Paul Cornell serves up a perfectly serviceable, if a bit slow, origin story. And if wasn’t for the fact that DC put two artists on this thing in order to push this issue out in time I think we’d be looking at a better than average Bat-issue. But, in reality, the whole thing feels a bit rushed and I’ve come to expect something more than ‘perfectly serviceable’ from the writer of ACTION COMICS and KNIGHT AND SQUIRE. Better luck next time.

Brightest Day #16

Hey, it’s the untold origin of Aqualad y’all. Turns out he’s the son of Black Manta and an Atlantean prisoner from the inaccessible undersea prison colony of Xebel. (Don’t you just love comics?) Ivan Reis draws pretty pictures and writers Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi do a good job in creating an intriguing backstory for Aqualad. Interspersed throughout are brief snippets of the Firestorm plot, which is a shame because the Firestorm story is the weakest ongoing in BRIGHTEST DAY. Barring that unfortunate misstep this series is a great example of what bi-weekly storytelling can do when you put top drawer talent behind the wheel.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5

Guy Gardner and co. continue their exploration of the unknown sector when they’re waylaid by a squadron of rogue green lanterns who seem to think our heroes are Sinestro Corps soldiers. Of course that means we’re about to be treated to some lantern on lantern violence and writer Peter J. Tomasi succeeds in delivering the goods. Artist Fernando Pasarin continues to rock this title as well displaying an incredible range of action. From shoot em up battle segments to lower key emotional interactions Pasarin manages to capture the nuances of each scene perfectly.

A couple points to quibble with. Looks like there’s some broken telephone at play amongst the GL titles. First of all, over in GREEN LANTERN #60, we’re told that its been six weeks since the events of BLACKEST NIGHT, but EMERALD WARRIORS states that the events within its pages are taking place almost twice that amount of time later. Furthermore, in GL #60, Sinestro goes running when he’s told that his daughter’s life is in danger. This is a direct contradiction to what’s happening in GREEN LANTERN CORPS where Kyle Rayner pleaded unsuccessfully with Sinestro for help using the exact same argument.

When you try to run three separate titles in the same shared story space these kinds of things are going to happen. It’s minor irritant but it says something to the level of quality of the story telling when I’m reduced to complaining about these kind of minutiae.

Superman #706

So, with the departure of uber-writer it JMS it turns out that last month’s fill-in issue wasn’t really a fill in after all, but a declaration of the new status quo. Picking up the reins of the title are writer G.Willow Wilson and artist Amilcar Pinna. Sadly, the results are fairly uninspiring. This issue takes us away from the Grounded storyline to check in with Perry White and the staff of the Daily Planet. Apparently without Superman stories to print the planet has fallen on hard times and has come under attack from a local journo-blog. This issue grates on my nerves. A financially strapped Daily Planet is clichéd Superman plot line #42. I can’t begin to count the number of times this hackneyed story has been trotted out.

I’m convinced that Willow hasn’t actually checked in with a major print publication in the last ten years. He tries to portray the Planet like an out of touch dinosaur, unable to keep up with the changes in technology. Perry White doesn’t know what a blog is, he doesn’t know how it works and he sure as hell doesn’t want one near his newspaper. In reality, newspapers today have been forced to embrace new media a long time ago, employing bloggers and a vibrant web presence in order to retain readers. When a writer clearly doesn’t understand what it is he’s talking about it destroys any interest I have in the story, especially when he uses it as central plank of the whole story.

Oh, and one more thing. Perry White doesn’t smoke. He developed cancer a few years ago, almost died and he f@cking gave up cigars as a result. Do me a favour and stop trying to put a cigar back in his mouth, because when you do that what you’re telling me is that cancer scare was pointless.

A tale of two trailers - Green Lantern vs. Thor

A couple trailers for big 2011 comic book movies have hit the net recently.

First up is GREEN LANTERN where unfortunately, if first impressions are any indication, we’re looking at another Ryan Reynolds nudge and wink fest.



Feeling more like THE PROPOSAL than BURIED the trailer opens with some driving rock guitar and Reynold’s hastily extracting himself from a presumed one night stand. Viewers can understandably be forgiven for thinking they’ve wandered into a VAN WILDER blooper reel.

Considering DC’s stated intention that new film properties need to work off the strengths of Christopher Nolan’s hugely successful BATMAN franchise it’s a little puzzling to see that there aren’t any traces of the dark and edgy themes that currently populate the Bat-world. Granted Green Lantern is not Batman and what works for one character won’t necessarily work well for others.

But the trailer feels distinctly like a late 90’s interpretation of a comic book property, good looking pretty boy fronting the cast, straightforward action movie feel, static set pieces and not much in the way of serious character exploration.

The trailer tries to switch up the tone halfway through and present us with a darker take but unfortunately it retreats back to jocular chuckles pretty quickly. And its too late, to be honest, the film’s mood has been set.

But I’m not willing to give up on this film based on two and a half minutes of footage put out half a year before the film’s release date. It helps immensely that GREEN LANETERN is helmed by the immensely capable Martin Campbell, whose resume boasts more successes than stinkers. It’s just too bad that this film has to succeed in spite of its trailer, not because of it.

When you stack the THOR trailer next to the GREEN LANTERN one it becomes quickly apparent that the former demolishes the latter.



Watching the trailer I can’t help but get excited about this movie. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, who is better known for his Shakespeare than his Stan Lee, the trailer manages to hit all the right notes.

Where Green Lantern tussles anonymously in the parking lot with muggers, Thor is battling gods and frost giants. Instead of enduring Ryan Reynolds flirtatious posturing THOR treats us to Sir Anthony Hopkins chewing up the scenery. And rather than plodding through the stereotypical origin story paces Thor starts the film already a hero in his own right.

THOR shows us glimpses of forbidden love, fallen gods, epic battles and otherworldly intrigue. Sounds pretty good to me.

It’s a bit unfair to compare these two trailers. Beyond the fact that their source material is rooted in the four colour medium, there are more differences than similarities between the two stories.

But nonetheless comparisons will be made. And sadly, based on these initial offerings, I think that the GREEN LANTERN trailers comes up sadly lacking.

Comic book reviews for the week of November 17th in six sentences (or less)

Once again its time for the GTA’s greatest (and shortest) comic book reviews.

Today’s reviews have been brought to you by the letter ‘E’ and the word Exposition. Because this week’s comics are just dripping with unnecessary and long winded backstory.

No best of the week I’m afraid. While I didn’t review any out and out stinkers this week I’m afraid nothing really stood out in a positive sense.

So without further ado lets get into the verbage.

Avengers #7
I know I said I wasn’t going to read this title anymore. Well I’m not made of stone people, get off my back. I admit, I was sufficiently intrigued by the thought of Rulk joining the Avengers to pick up this issue. There’s not much to this one. Brian Michael Bendis, should have just saved some time and sub-titled this story Exposition. Anyway, former depowered super-villain, The Hood, goes looking for the Infinity gems. He manages to find two of them before stumbling into Rulk. Unfortunately I’m not a Marvel guy so I know next to nothing about the Infinity gems. Only that they’re so dangerous that they’ve been split up to prevent any one person from wielding that much power.

Bendis pulls an old Geoff Johns trick to let you know just how bad ass the villain of the story is, by getting him to beat down on someone who’s already a pretty well established bad ass. JRJR makes some pretty-pretty pictures and in four weeks I’m going to have to ponder whether or not I have the strength to not buy issue #8. That’s the kind of dilemma you want to have.

Flash #6
I wonder how long it will take DC to renumber this title? Will they pick up Barry’s old numbering? Wally’s old numbering? Or just add everything together? It probably doesn’t say much for the review that I’m leading with a dilemma on numbering. Considering that all sorts of series from the Big Two have done this recently I really think its just a matter of time. Anyway, this issue wraps up the Dastardly Deaths of the Rouges plot. Future- Top is outed as a villain and Barry puts the beat down on him, saving Iris’s life in the process, naturally. Francis Manapul does some lovely art and Geoff John hints at future plot lines, including the Kubert drawn Flashpoint that we saw teased at the end of Rebirth.

Green Lantern #59
Someone at DC was earning their media cross promotion badge this week by making sure that this issue dropped at the same time the Green Lantern trailer was being released. My thoughts on the trailer? I was underwhelmed but cautiously optimistic. Right now I’m worried that tonally it seems akin to the IRON MAN franchise and I’d be much happier if GL staked out its own territory. But its much to early in the game to start worry about that stuff now.

In this ish Flash and Hal stand around and talk, a lot. Then the Indigo Tribe, with reformed serial killer the Black Hand in tow, show up and then there is slightly more talking. Thank God Doug Mahnke is such a gifted artist that’s he able to make even what is essentially 22 pages of talking heads look good. There was a new twist on the origins of the Indigo Tribe that I thought was very interesting. (I enjoy how Johns is rolling out the different limitations or powers of the various Corps. Its about more than making giant day-glo boxing gloves in a rainbow of colours.) Anyway its implied that the Tribe might be composed of murderers and villains who have had compassion bestowed upon them. And that without their rings they might just revert back to form. Just how far down the road is Johns planning his next mega event anyway?

For the casual fan I’m this issue suffered from a dearth of combat. But sometimes you’ve got to change the pace up a little and I think this story is meant to give the audience a bit of a breather.

Justice League of America #51
Is this what comics used to read like before CRISIS OF THE INFINITE EARTHS? A couple of momentum killing paragraphs inserted at the beginning of each issue to explain the science behind the Multiverse? I’m a reasonably proficient Multiverse individual and even I found my eyes glazing over at the pseudo-science explanation. In this issue the Crime Syndicate of Amerika has accidentally created Onslaught, sorry, the Omega Man in the hopes of returning Lex Luthor (and or Darkseid depending on who yer talking too) back to life. Things go awry, as things tend to do, and the end result is big bad meanie intent on killing everyone in sight. Just take a deep breath and enjoy Bags on the pencils wouldn’t you? There, doesn’t that feel better?

Superior #2
Well, we’re still stuck in exposition mode. A very slow burn, especially for Millar. He takes us through the paces, doing a standard kind of ‘getting to know what makes you and your powers tick plot.’ The Superman comparisons are still there. Only this time instead of having to rescue a failing airplane or space shuttle Millar decides to drop a whole space station from the heavens (rendered impressively by Leinil Yu). The casual swearing in the comic doesn’t bother me, mostly cause when I was the age of the kids in this comic I was using language a lot saltier than the F-bomb. Millar clearly knows that he’s limiting the number of potential buyers by making this an R-Rated comic, but he goes for it anyway. I always enjoy it when a writer or filmmaker goes for the throat and turns out an uncompromising product, regardless of what it means to the bottom line. It may not be a better product but at least they can’t be blamed for taking half measures.

Superman #705
Superman continues on his quest to moralize across America, one step at a time. This month the subject is abuse and why its bad; complete with Supes breaking the fourth wall and staring directly into the reader’s soul. It’s the same kind of preachy, over the top and slightly dull storytelling that has come to characterize this title under the pen of JMS. With JMS’s imminent departure it’ll be interesting to see if this title will continue to meander along the story wilderness or get a much needed shot of adrenaline to the arm. I think the last time Supes was this underexposed was the mid 90’s when he was officially dead. Remember when he used to hold down FIVE ongoing monthlies?

Confining Superman to a single title was never going to be a roaring success, especially given the subject matter the writer has chosen to write about.But, if I’m trying to put a positiver spin on things. At the very least I used to be able to look at it as a temporary time out, a chance to cleanse the palette and generate some demand to see more exposure for the character. But now that JMS has sworn off monthlies and can’t even be bothered to see the great experiment to a close, Grounded qualifies as an out and out failure. I’d like to say at least the art isn’t so bad, but even this issue is pencilled by two different people. So, hurray for inconsistency.

Comic book reviews for the week of October 13th in six sentences (or less)

Hey everyone, these are 24 hours late because we suffered a power failure last night (which feels like the modern equivalent to 'the dog ate my homework').

Best of the Week

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

The current chapter of Grant Morrison’s Batman epic is drawing to a close. And even the most casual fan of either the writer, or the character he’s playing with, has to respect the lengths to which Morrison has gone to mine the lesser known aspects of the franchise and reconcile some of its more fantastic elements. Suddenly, everything is on the table, because it all happened. Every cockamamie Silver Age story that was wiped away by CRISIS OF INFINITE EARTHS with an embarrassing shrug actually took place. It’s like the Batman franchise has been rebooted on the sly and decades worth of stories are now relevant again, or at least deserve a chance to be re-examined in the wake of Morrison's stint.

Hellblazer: City of Demons #1

I’m not sure why the Hellblazer franchise decided to spin this story out into a miniseries, because right now there’s nothing taking place in these pages that can’t be handled in the main title. Is Vertigo sitting on a backlog of ‘blazer stories and wanting to see some return on their investment? Anyway, I would have passed on this if it wasn’t being pencilled by the fantastic Sean Murphy. You might remember him from his work on JOE THE BARBARIAN and Learning with Wolverine. There’s nothing here that you don’t see in a straight of ‘blazer story. John Constantine drinks, smokes, acts like a dick and is apparently still British. All good in my books, but I’m still curious to see what makes this story so special.

Knight and Squire #1

Combining Paul Cornell, the current writer of ACTION COMICS, with Knight and Squire, one of Grant Morrison’s great reinventions seems like a recipe for printing money. In reality it’s neither good nor bad, but just kind of...there. The writing is solid, the art passable but not spectacular and its full of British-y goodness. Surprisingly, it does nothing for me. The story deals with heroes and villains that gather to socialize once a month at a local pub, prevented from fighting each due to the influence of ‘truce magic.’ As you might expect, the truce is broken and chaos ensues. I’m willing to stick with the story for another issue, but this title will really have to up its game if it expects to keep me as a reader.

Green Lantern #58

One of things that impresses me about Geoff Johns is the man’s ability to stick with a title. In today’s comic book market, some writers can’t stay with a book longer than an arc or too. Yet Johns frequently manages to write on a title for years, a rarity in any age and practically unheard of today. With Doug Mahnke rocking the pencils and Johns continuing to pen the story he’s been working on for the last five years this title is consistently at the top of my pull list. This month we’re treated to the continuing adventures of the Rainbow Raiders. Johns is doing an admirable job portraying the disparate personalities that banded together after the events of THE BLACKEST NIGHT in a realistic and believe manner. (Well, as realistic as a group of aliens with multicoloured magic wishing rings can ever hope to be)

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors

Peter J. Tomasi might not be gracing the pages of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS anymore, but he’s not too far from the GL franchise thanks to his work on EMERALD WARRIORS. I get the impression that Johns uses the main GL title to tie the franchise into the DCU and move events forward. This leaves GLC and now EW to pick up some of the dangling plot threads and flesh out the larger world of the Corps. Its a system that works really well for all the titles involved. And Fernando Pasarin is just killing it on pencils. I’m not used to seeing art this great on a book that I consider to be part of the expanded DCU and not a core title.

Superman #703

I’m conflicted. On the one hand I respect what J. Michael Straczynski is attempting to do with the Superman franchise. He’s trying to approach the character in a fashion that he believes has never been done before. And I respect that. On the other hand, I’m not sure he’s been entirely successful in his aims. Let’s face it, when you have a publishing history as long as Superman does there aren’t very many unexplored angles. While readers may never have seen it in such an elongated form, the concept of a reflective Superman has been done before, many times over. Done properly in the course of a single issue it can be a powerful tool. Spread it across an entire story arc and it can border on tedious. This month, Superman continues in his mission to walk across America. He gets in a fight, wins it and everything looks pretty much the same as it has in his world for the last 70 years. I’m not willing to write JMS off yet. But at this point I’m look forward to his SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE book more so than I am his work on the main title.

Superior #1

Say what you will about Mark Millar, and the man certainly has his fair share of detractors, but the man knows how to make the most of what he has. If he’s not promoting himself, or his work, he’s name dropping his Hollywood connections or stepping outside his traditional box to try new things, like directing a film for pete’s sake. The man is a shameless huckster and the comic world is better for it. Whether you like or dislike his writing most people seem to have an opinion about it. Which means you’re probably reading what he puts out and that’s the point of the whole thing. Anyway, SUPERMA…I mean SUPREM…er…SUPERIOR #1 is a straight up origin tale with Superman like overtones. Most origin tales are limited by what they can do as they’re too busy checking off the obligatory narrative plot points. With any luck the second issue will allow Millar to start monkeying around with conventions of the genre.

Original Art Fridays - Green Lantern

I managed to snag this sketch shortly after Doug Mahnke was annouced as the regular penciler on GREEN LANTERN. I've loved his work ever since I I first saw it in the pages of SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL, so yes, I was really happy to get this one.